


What Makes You Different

by pensivepretzil



Category: Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Feels, Fluff, Hugs, I wouldn't say this is angst but it kind of tries to go in that direction, One Shot, Rain, indoline praetorium, this is mostly pyrex but there's a little panzeke in there too, xenoship week 2019, y'know all that good stuff, y'know for dramatic effect
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-13
Updated: 2019-04-13
Packaged: 2020-01-12 20:31:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18454094
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pensivepretzil/pseuds/pensivepretzil
Summary: Spirits are low following the funeral of Fan la Norne, and Zeke suggests the gang head outside for some fresh air and sparring practice. When their plans are foiled by a bit of dreary weather, Pyra takes a moment to share one of her deepest fears with Rex.





	What Makes You Different

**Author's Note:**

> This does have a couple spoilers for the end of TtGC.
> 
> Written for Xenoship week 2019, prompt #4 (rain). Enjoy!

The day following Fan la Norne’s funeral was as dismal as they come, the sky clouding over as though it were mourning her passing itself.

No one felt like saying or doing much of anything that day, but after a few hours of glumly sitting around in their rooms, Zeke finally suggested the group go outside for some fresh air.

“Come now, chums,” he said, tilting his head toward the door, “it’d be a shame to let all that courtyard space go to waste.”

Their ambitions were short lived, though.

Sparring, as the disgruntled Indoline priest told Rex, was _not_ allowed in the Sanctum, and as such they should kindly take their “games” elsewhere. As it turned out, it was also not allowed in the plaza, the marketplace, or anywhere near stairs of any kind, which unfortunately marked most of the Praetorium off-limits. They were finally given permission to practice at Goetius Port, as long as they stayed near the cargo bay and kept the shouting to a minimum. This last part was added with a pointed look at Zeke, who simply grinned at the man until he left, mumbling about meddling children and violence in a place of worship.

With limited space, only two teams could duel at a time. Poppi suggested they take turns using the floor. After much heated deliberation about who should go first, Mòrag finally admitted to a desire to take on the Crown Prince of Tantal. Everyone agreed that they would enjoy bearing witness to such a battle, and so the rest of the party seated themselves atop cargo crates to watch.

The duelists had barely drawn their weapons, however, when droplets began to fall from the sky, slowly at first, but rapidly gaining in pace.

Pandoria gasped. “Oh! I love when this happens!” Turning her palms upward, she tilted her head back to watch raindrops collect on the lenses of her glasses.

“Speak for yourself,” Brighid said in a dry tone most unbefitting of the current weather. “If you don’t mind, Lady Mòrag, I think I’d rather continue this later.”

“Very well,” Mòrag consented, sheathing her swords.

“Oh come on,” Zeke protested as the two turned to begin the long trek up several flights of stairs. He pointed his gigantic sword at them. “What, are you afraid you’ll be humiliated now that the rain has you cut down to size?”

“On the contrary,” Mòrag said crisply, “Brighid could take on far worse adversaries than you with one hand behind her back.”

“Thank you, Lady Mòrag,” Brighid said, and the two stepped briskly up the stairs and out of sight.

Nia stretched her arms above her head. “Well, if we aren’t going to watch Shellhead get thrashed, I think I’ll take a little catnap. Coming, Dromarch?”

“Of course, my lady.”

The rain was falling at a rapid drizzle now. Pyra lifted her arm and watched the droplets chase each other across her skin. “This actually feels kind of nice.”

Pandoria hopped in place once and gave her head a shake, sending water flying off the ends of her green tresses. “Who wants to see a cool party trick?”

“Tora want to see!”

“Poppi also interested in tricks for parties!”

As Tora and Poppi gathered close, Pandoria lifted her forearms, stretching her fingertips toward each other, and tilted her chin down. A few moments later, bright sparks began dancing between her hands, hopping from raindrop to raindrop and stretching in delicate currents across her fingers. “Pretty cool, huh?”

“Indeed,” Zeke cut in, twirling his sword as he returned it to his back, “my Pandy is a master of all things beautiful. One simply has to look upon her face to see-”

“Hush, you’re ruining my focus,” Pandoria interrupted, though her face was turning a rather lovely shade of pink. She cut off the sparks with a flourish of her hands.

Tora flapped his wings. “Do again!”

Pandoria giggled and positioned her hands to oblige.

“Oh, how beautiful,” Pyra sighed to Rex as they watched. “All I can do is this.” She closed her eyes, folding her hands in her lap. Her core crystal brightened marginally. Moments later, each raindrop that hit her began to hiss softly, and tiny wisps of steam rose from where they had connected with her skin.

Rex leaned in for a closer look. “Wow, that’s pretty cool! I bet you never have to deal with cold bathwater, with a trick like that.”

Pyra opened her eyes with a shy smile. “Thank you,” she said. “I guess it is kind of useful, but not particularly pretty. Mythra has this one memory of Jin…” She trailed off, biting her lip.

Rex nodded encouragingly. “Go on.”

“Well, there was this one time they were all fighting in the rain, and Jin’s powers would freeze the raindrops as they fell past him. It was… kind of cool, actually.” She closed her eyes again, remembering the way Jin moved between the raindrops, leaving them glittering and scattering in his wake.

Lora had been particularly fond of watching him when this happened, usually leaving her less-than-useful on the battlefield. After that particular battle, Jin, paranoid for her safety, made it a point not to get into fights during such weather, though Mythra had always wondered if he hadn’t been showing off a bit that day, just for Lora.

“I don’t understand it.” Rex broke her from her trance. “Jin used to be on the right side. Why would he change his mind?”

Pyra looked down at her hands. “I’ve always kind of wondered that myself. I only knew Jin personally for a short time, after… y’know.” She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, pushing _those_ memories back into their corner. “He was a little cold, but I could tell that he was good deep down. Mythra has her theories, though.”

“Yeah?”

Pyra nodded. “He always made sure everyone knew that he was only fighting for Lora. She was alive when we went to sleep… Mythra is sure something happened to her after we were put in stasis. Something awful.” She twisted her hands together tightly. “And now, the only way Jin could still be alive, with all his memories…” She shut her eyes again.

“You don’t think… he’s a Flesh Eater because… of _her?_ ” Rex asked. “But… if he cared about her, how could he do that? And would Lora have wanted… all of this?”

“No,” she said. “I really don’t think she would. And it sometimes makes me wonder… how good any of us really are, deep down.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean…” Pyra drew her knees up to her chest. “If something horrible happened to someone I really cared about… would I also do things I once would never have dreamed of doing?”

“Of course not,” Rex said immediately. “You’re not like him.”

“But we already did,” she whispered, staring ahead at their friends. They had moved on from party tricks to splashing in puddles. As Pyra watched, Zeke jumped with both feet into a big one, sending a wave of water over the others.

The thought of losing them made her heart hurt.

She had only seen Milton once, right when she was awakened, his body limp in Mikhail’s arms. But the memory of the anguish Mythra had felt at his death, raw and violent and painful, was real enough for Pyra to feel that she’d known him for years.

That anguish had made Mythra lose control once, and it could happen again.

“That’s different.” Rex sounded completely sure of himself.

Pyra turned to him, her eyes glossing with tears. “How?”

Rex turned to face her, too. “Well,” he said, “for starters, you were fighting Malos. There was bound to be some collateral damage. And now you know what you can do, and you can learn to control it.”

“But I could lose control again,” she whispered.

“And if you do,” Rex went on, “does that suddenly make you as bad as Jin, or even Malos? Of course not. You wanna know how I know?”

She pressed her lips together and nodded.

“Because you already did it once,” he said, “and you’re still here, on the same side. And you’re selfless, and kind, and amazing.” Scooting closer to her, Rex took both her hands in his. “You’re a person, Pyra, and people make mistakes. Most of the time there’s nothing you could have done to prevent it, and once the mistake is made, you can’t unmake it. All you can do,” Rex went on, giving her hands a comforting squeeze, “is learn from it. You can keep it from changing who you are, and you forgive others who do the same. That’s what makes you different from Jin, Pyra,” he said, raising a hand to touch her face. “You forgive.”

His hand was still on her face, and without thinking she placed her own hand over it, closing her eyes.

It was times like these that made her grateful Rex had been the one to resonate with her. Well, more than usual, anyway. He was just so trusting. He was every bit as selfless and kind as he’d just said she was.

It -- _he_ \-- sometimes made her wonder if she should change her reason for wanting to climb the World Tree.

There was a loud CRR--ACK! and the two jumped away from each other, yelping. Pyra’s heart, already racing from the close proximity to Rex, was now threatening to jump up her throat. The cracking noise rolled smoothly into a low rumbling.

“Wasn’t me,” Pandoria insisted.

“Precipitation increased at rapid rate in last five minutes,” Poppi noted. “Poppi suggest all go inside to prevent lowering of temperatures.”

Zeke stretched and wrapped one arm around Pandoria’s shoulders. “I suppose I could use a hot bath.”

“Which you will be taking by yourself,” Pandoria teased, slipping away from him. “No offense, my prince, but you kinda smell.”

“Masterpon also have tendency to smell like wet Volff after rain,” Poppi added.

Tora’s mournful _meh-mehhhh_ s were drowned out by Zeke’s laughter as the four headed for the stairs.

Rex slid off the crate he and Pyra had been sitting on. Turning back, he offered her a hand, smiling sheepishly.

Pyra accepted the help with a smile of her own. Once she had hopped down, she tugged on his hand, and he yelped as she pulled him into a tight hug.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

Rex’s arms wrapped around her waist as he buried his head in her shoulder.

They stood like that until Pyra worried Rex would hear her pounding heart. She stepped out of the hug, clasping her hands behind her back. “Shall we go inside?”

Rex rubbed the back of his neck. “After you.”

She stepped past him, feeling lighter than she had in a long time.

 _We don’t deserve him,_ she sighed to Mythra in her head. _Do you think… he’ll be okay? When we’re gone?_

 _It doesn’t matter,_ her sister said flatly. _We’ll be dead._

 _Yeah, I know._ Pyra turned to glance at their Driver as he walked beside her. _But… the thought of disappointing him being our last act of existence… it’s almost too much to bear._

Mythra didn’t respond, but Pyra knew she agreed.


End file.
